Category: Triangle

The nights are getting longer and the weather is getting colder…so I’m ready to cocoon in my Carolina home and binge. As alarming as that sounds, I assure you that I’m not doing myself any harm other than eyestrain and an ever-widening bottom. I’m referring to binge-watching, the latest television trend. To “binge” on TV is to watch voluminous hours of television in one long sitting. Are you guilty?
My personal demi-god, Bruce Springsteen, recorded a song in the early 1990s called “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On).” 20 years later, I have hundreds of channels (and still nothin’ on), but thankfully I also have a DVR, on-demand cable, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, and Netflix. I have all the technology I need...

In terms of the stock market, a long-term trend is categorized as one lasting a year or longer. Based on the first nine months of 2013, I’m comfortable saying that the housing recovery is clearly trending in the right direction.
In September, we saw the third best month for home sales since 2009. Only July and August 2013 were stronger sales months than September.
The numbers speak loudly. Allen Tate Company is averaging 45 listings per day, 68 sales per day and 57 closings per day – up 18 percent, 23 percent and 30 percent respectively over 2012. Year-to-date, Allen Tate has closed 16,758 homes, up from 12,758 at the same time last year.
In the latest edition of Carolinas Market Update, I...

When I was in school, we heard a lot about the 3 R’s – reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. Today, we’ve added another “R” to the list – rock.
Just about every K-12 school in the Carolinas has a large rock in the school yard. I’m talking about the enormous painted boulder that serves as a banner, billboard, birthday card and display of every form of school spirit.
The rocks may have originated because of our jagged Southern topography, but if you think about it, the school spirit rock is one of the first forms of social media. Always original, constantly changing and worth checking often, just to make sure you don’t miss something newsworthy.
This year, Allen Tate Company found a really cool...

When heading to the grocery store, it’s usually best to bring a list of what you want. That way, you don’t get distracted by splashy sales and promotions and forget to buy the items you really need.
How about keeping a shopping list–or a wish list– handy during your house hunt? It’s easy to get sidetracked by gleaming new appliances and lose track of the essentials you were hoping for in the first place. Making a wish list ahead of time also helps you focus, and it can help your Allen Tate Realtor® by providing guidance into what matters most to you.
Here’s a sampling of topics to consider including when jotting down your list:
- What is your ideal price range?
- How...

A fun tradition at Halloween is to visit a “haunted house,” filled with various ghosts and ghouls. But would you want to live in a real haunted house?
According to legend, the older a home, the greater chance it could be haunted because of the number of souls who have lived there. If something happens that causes a tear in the energy, such as a violent death or extreme grief, a spirit may become trapped between this world and the next.
The Carolinas are full of houses said to be haunted. Dare if you will to visit these homes with spooky histories:
The Blakney House in Monroe, N.C, is believed to be haunted by William Blakney, a greedy miser. It is said that...

The movie Sideways was on TV recently. It’s the tale of two middle-aged buddies taking a week-long road trip into California’s wine country. And while the premise of that film should have me charting a course through North Carolina’s wine country (maybe later), it’s craft beer that I crave for my own sideways adventure this Fall. With over 100 craft breweries in North Carolina alone, there should be no shortage of destinations.
Here are my five picks when I’m somewhere on the road in the Carolinas:
Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville, SC, has been brewing award-winning beer for 15 years. Their flagship brew is called River Falls Red Ale. Chances are you can sample some at Greenville’s Euphoria Festival later this month.
The...

I am a carnivore. I’m not proud of it. But I do love a good burger. And while Summertime is the right time to burn some ground beef on the George Foreman, I still prefer seeking out my burgers somewhere on-the-road in the Carolinas. Here are my 5 picks:

In Charlotte and Raleigh, I am a fan of Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. Their Classic Southern Burger, topped with chili, American cheese, relish, mustard, and slaw, is a winner … but be sure to ask for plenty of napkins. I also enjoy the basic (and I mean basic) cheeseburger at O’Malley’s Pub in Raleigh. Basic…cheddar cheese…lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard (no mayo) … and a side of onion rings. Oh, and a pint of Guinness. Perfection.

The cities included Charlotte (No. 4), Greensboro (No. 9), Raleigh (No. 12) and Durham (No. 14). Each experienced double-digit population growth between 10.3 and 15.8 percent from 2007 to 2012.

Interestingly, 17 of the 25 ranked cities (population greater than 200,000) are located in the South and are largely suburban cities and lower density, spread-out municipalities. In comparison, major cities in the Northeast experienced only minimal growth during this time period, with Washington, D.C. as the best survey performer (No. 27) with 7.8 percent growth. New York has only grown 0.3 percent since 2007, while Chicago’s population has dropped 3.4 percent.

So today, March 14, is “International Pi Day”…a day I have even less use for than I do “Wiggle Your Toes Day” (August 6), “National Bubba Day” (June 2), or “I Forgot Day” (July 2).

Pi, my Wiki research tells me, is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant…the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter…which is about 3.14159. I say “about” because mathematicians seem to enjoy calculating Pi out to a massive number of digits. The record is now 5 trillion digits, set in August 2010 by Alexander J. Yee and Shigeru Kondo. Can you say “boys with too much time on their hands?”

Pi (Greek letter “π”) is an irrational number, which means that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers. Oh, of course…why didn’t you say so in the first place? (I don’t like explanations that make me feel dumber than a bag of hammers.)

So what can I get out of this Pi Day? I rarely need to know the circumference of a circle, and trigonometry is not my thing. So, I say we make this Pi Day one that gives us many reasons to indulge in the Carolinas’ best pies. Let me loosen my belt now.

Most people prepare to sell their home in the Spring. However, if you are selling your home during the winter months here are three simple showing tips to consider:

Shovel the snow. The last thing you want is a fall on your property. Do a daily check of your sidewalks and driveway. Shovel the snow and treat patches of ice to remove the risk of someone falling. Don’t forget to assess the patio and deck too. And mind those steps. Stairs can be treacherous in the winter.

Warm it up. Buyers will remember a warm, toasty home on a cold winter day. Even if the house is vacant, the heat needs to be on. A warm, cozy and comfortable house may even encourage a buyer to spend some extra time looking.